1) Chronosync - My philosophy is that if your back-up system isn't automated, you're going to lose data, at some point, guaranteed! Chronosync allows you to run an automated back-up every night, hour, or at whatever interval you choose. So essentially, you can back-up as many main drives as you have to as many back-up drives as you choose. This works over both a local set of drives (USB, Firewire) or a network. Cheap peace of mind. Now I just need an automated off-site solution. Any ideas? Places like Mozy or other online back-up either A) would never be able to back-up multiple Terabytes initially or B) require a huge payment to get your data out if you ever need to.

2) TweetDeck - I hate updating both Facebook and Twitter separately. Nuff said. Not only does Tweetdeck allow you to see your social networking across multiple platforms, it also has a bunch of other cool features. There's an iphone app also.

3) Latest publications, awards and other docs. Besides my applications, I pull a bunch of other documents and items into my dock as a reminder of what I should be working on. If I'm sending out an email to a new prospect or contact, I'll often include some recent press or publication. Currently, Skiing magazine's shot of the year is handy (see below) for easy access when scripting new emails. If you have a bunch of new goals for 2010 in a spreadsheet somewhere, pull it up to your dock today. Remind yourself every morning what the focus for this year is.

4) Cyberduck - There are lot's of FTP clients out there. I prefer Cyberduck because it's trouble free, allows me to bookmark all of my FTP locations for easy access and It's free.

5) SnapnDrag - I love this application! Simple as that. It gets used every day and is one of my favorites. It's not much more than a "screenshot" tool, but it's the most effective one I've used. I'm constantly grabbing screenshots (i.e. see #3 above). One of my favorite features, is the direct email link right in the application. Grab a screenshot, click "email" and up pops your mail client with the image (screenshot) attached. Another example: Client Z asks for a quote (Homepage website usage). You ask for the size and they point you to their website and say, "just like that top banner". You say, "great, so the size of the product shot of Kobe's shoe?" client "yep". "I'll get right back to you".
Now, pull up SnapnDrag, line up the crosshairs exactly on each side of the image, take a snapshot and name it. Next, drag to Photoshop and check the Image Size...ah...915px X 419px. Now click "email" and confirm with client or send yourself a reminder to estimate usage (since you are in the middle of a shoot right now). ***btw - yes, you can grab screenshots w/Mac shortcut "Shift, Control, Command, 4", but they automatically go to the desktop and there's no quick email feature or renaming the shot feature.